Keeping a healthy lifestyle prevents kidney disease

By Rizalie A. Calibo

DUMAGUETE CITY, Sept 23 (PIA) -- "Keep a healthy lifestyle to prevent kidney disease," says Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC) nephrologist Roy Diamond Arco in a Kapihan sa Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Forum at Bethel Guesthouse, Dumaguete City. 

Arco discussed the importance of kidney, its significant functions, and prevalence of renal disease in the Philippines. The information is in support of the advocacy of government to kidney care and disease prevention. 

He said kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in the country and is attributed to the people’s lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits. 

He cited the 2008 National Nutrition Health Survey that says 2.6 percent of Filipinos have kidney disease, of which 11,000 are undergoing dialysis and about 40 percent have died because of their inability to pay for the treatment. 

Kidney disease often cannot be cured, but fortunately, it can be prevented if detected at an early stage. 

He said prevention and early management, although very extensive, can achieve significant benefits for the public and has become the advocacy of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI). 

Through the years, he said, the NKTI has reached out to several sectors nationwide and continuously disseminates health information, provides medical services, shares expertise, and renders assistance to better prevent and treat different kidney ailments. 

Arco encouraged everyone to have a regular urinalysis or laboratory test of urine for early detection to prevent kidney disease. 

The kidneys are two vital organs that keep the blood clean and kidney disease can be detected through urinalysis. 

He said kidney is responsible for removing toxins or waste products from our body. 

Aside from filtering waste products, it also controls water, blood pressure, vitamin D, calcium absorption, among other functions of the human body so when it fails, everything else fail. 

Regular dialysis comes as the next alternative but it cannot replace all these functions and is very expensive, Arco said. 

So, to stay away from kidney problems and to be healthy, one should keep a healthy lifestyle which includes proper exercise and a healthy diet, Arco added. (mbcn/RAC-PIA7, Siquijor)